The Cleveland Cavaliers are hiring Luke Walton as an assistant coach, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
In addition to his 10 years of playing experience in the NBA, Walton has been a head coach across six seasons. Most recently, he was with the Sacramento Kings in 2021, getting fired midway through his third year following a 6-11 start.
The 42-year-old rose quickly through the coaching ranks.
By his second season on the Golden State Warriors’ staff in 2015-16, he was deputized as the team’s interim head coach with Steve Kerr unavailable. He guided the Warriors to a 39-4 start before Kerr returned.
The Los Angeles Lakers hired him as their replacement for Byron Scott the following offseason.
Walton brings a lot of experience to Cleveland’s bench, something that will be beneficial as the Cavs attempt to climb to the next level in the Eastern Conference.After winning 44 games and qualifying for the play-in tournament, this will be the first season the franchise enters a season with genuine expectations since LeBron James left for the second time.
For Walton, this is an opportunity to earn his third crack at a head coaching job. Given his age, it’s not implausible that he could return to that role one day, though his stock took a hit from his time with the Lakers and Kings.
Walton has a 166-241 career record, and his tenure in Sacramento went particularly poorly.
Any success Walton enjoys in Cleveland will reflect positively upon him and help to undo some of the damage to his coaching reputation.
Courtesy; Bleacher Report
